blueberry, i kinda know what my lady wants on her cake, i'm after your advice, she wants some sort of wire/ wires coming out of the top sort of cascading down the tiers with beads on them, secured by a posy pick in the top, hoq would i go about doing something like that?

cost the ingredients, boards etc., estimate how many hours work it will be, then tell her the actual cost to you and the number of hours it will take you. She can then decide what a fair price would be for your time. I have done this - given a breakdown of costs and then said if someone wants to give me something for my time it is up to them - I make cakes as a hobby, rather than a business.

If you were costing a wedding cake and charging properly then I would work out the cost of ingredients, boards, ribbons etc and add on an amount for electric, greaseproof paper, insurance (if you have it) etc. Then work out how many hours you think it will take you and what you want to charge for your hourly rate.

If it's for a friend, you could either make it as a gift and not charge at all for it, or charge her for ingredients only, charge her for ingredients plus a 'flat fee' of £50 or whatever, or just charge her the proper price and then buy her a wedding present.

If it was me and a very good friend, I'd offer to make it as a present.

This is an indication but depends on the ingredients. I would like this is a fair price as it includes the slow baking but unsure whether it would take into consideration the time spent. The prep for a fruit cake isnt long I suppose but the baking is 4 hours plus.